A reminder before the chaotic, frantic, hectic and wild winter holiday madness descends upon us! Those “new year’s resolutions” that alarmingly and frequently last only into the very early days of the new year? You don’t have to waste effort and time considering them!
Allow yourself some time to compose, eliminate stress, and relax! Relieve the pressure of the holidays and cope with the likelihood of inclement weather. Take a calming deep breath. Plan now to “resolve” when it is conducive and convenient for you and not the hysteria of a new calendar!
Instead of attempting ‘new year’s resolutions,” implement a short prioritized listing of “Spring Resolutions” that begin the first day of Spring, 2026! A calmer time in the year is also compatible with change as well as new lifestyle!
We are all aware that the transition from winter into Spring doesn’t happen overnight. The transformation is gradual – often at a snail’s pace – but the knowledge that it is underway is both exciting and encouraging. Sometimes, that alone provides us with the determination and the energy to accomplish success!
A barren winter environment begins to surrender to the rebirth of the Spring season. Again, another slow process that we welcome annually. Being reborn along with the springtime permits us to progress “hand-in-hand” towards a bright, colourful future of happiness, health and hope. A positive perspective to accompany our “resolve!”
Hopefully, the psychological and visual reminders for betterment and change are enough incentive for us to meet expectations and goals set for our Spring Resolutions! Every success is complete, one step followed by another!
Adjustments in our routine happen on a daily basis, both planned and unplanned. A new year or a seasonal transition is an opportunity and not a requirement. The first day of Spring resolution is offered as a suggestion. It is not obligatory as a bare practitioner!
In summary, let’s be honest and real. Most people begin each and every year “resolved” to exercise, get fit, and lose weight. Generally, this “resolve” is very frustrating and doesn’t last long. Avoid the bad experience and all the ensuing negativity expressed. Spring Resolutions remove us from the “mad rush” at our local fitness center/gym. The massive crowds shrink in numbers and the attention, attitudes and outlook is more patient, positive and relaxed. A better environment offers a better chance for improvement and success!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, December 22, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Happy Christmas!”
When it was originally observed, HIV/AIDS was an almost completely fatal diagnosis with countless deaths following varying periods of immense misery and suffering. Since that time, enormous progress has been made in medicine, and the disease is no longer considered synonymous with death. Although there is still no known cure for the virus, there is now hope that one is possible within the foreseeable future.
The virus that causes the condition known as AIDS was first identified in the middle 1980’s decade. For decades, it was considered an exclusive “gay” disease or else a disease of intravenous drug users. This led to excessive discrimination against those two communities. Massive prevention education efforts globally resulted from the stigmas surrounding the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS is a result of HIV infection. Two basic facts that remain true, still today.
“It’s not who we are, it’s what we do that puts us all at risk of HIV infection!” ~ Red Cross HIV/AIDS Prevention Education curriculum ~
The above quote appeared in the numerous versions of the Red Cross HIV/AIDS prevention education curriculum. This essential fact was vital in combatting the bias against certain persons and communities.
What Is World AIDS Day?
“World AIDS Day is a global movement to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Since 1988, communities have stood together on World AIDS Day to show strength and solidarity against HIV stigma and to remember lives lost.”
“In the UK, more than 105,000 people are living with HIV. Globally, an estimated 38 million people live with the virus. More than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS related illnesses over the past 40 years, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.”
Click on the above link to visit the official website.
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The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) weakens the body’s immune defenses by destroying CD4 (T cell) lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that usually guards the body from bacteria, viruses and other germs. With a severely compromised immune system, the body is unable to protect us against unwanted diseases, infections and illnesses.
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World AIDS Day 2025 Theme:
“Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response.”
Focus on the need to renew the international commitment to addressing HIV/AIDS challenges globally. These challenges often include numerous aspects of our lives, such as social, political, religious, educational, economic, personal and/or public. The situations may vary but unfortunately the causes frequently remain the same: bias and discrimination. Prejudices are “learned” behaviours that are based primarily on fear and ignorance.
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Designation Clarifications:
To refresh one’s memory of the status determinations applied for HIV/AIDS.
HIV Negative (HIV-): means that one has tested negative for the human immunodeficiency virus HIV. After the initial testing, the counselor administering the test will recommend a repeat test to confirm the results.
HIV Positive (HIV+): means that one has the human immunodeficiency virus HIV. A counselor will discuss the test results and provide information regarding services available.
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The Beginning of World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day (also known as World HIV Day) was initially conceived by James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officials for the Global Programme on AIDS at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. They jointly introduced the idea and concept to Dr. Jonathan Mann, Director of the Global Programme on AIDS (now known as UNAIDS) in August, 1987. Dr. Mann liked the idea, approved it and the date of 1 December 1988 was selected as the initial observance.
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The Red Ribbon Campaign:
The awareness ribbon strategy was adopted within a few years of the World AIDS Day commemorations. The Red Ribbon Campaign received immediate international recognition. The campaign soon expanded beyond just the World AIDS Day occasion and the red awareness ribbon became synonymous with HIV/AIDS awareness. The red awareness ribbon continues to designate HIV/AIDS awareness as well as knowledge of the disease, the prevention of infection and compassion to persons living with HIV.
The colour of red is noted as representing “life.” This was a deciding factor in choosing the design of the HIV/AIDS awareness ribbon and campaign.
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The Condom:
The use of a latex condom remains, even today, as the most effective tool in preventing the transmission (spreading) of HIV during sexual engagement. With all the advancements in prevention strategies and treatments, a latex condom is an essential element in stopping the spread of HIV during sex.
Allergic to latex? Not a problem. Consult your physician, pharmacist or trusted HIV counselor.
Footnote #1: The colour of the condom pictured above is red. Please understand that the colour of a condom has no determining value in the protection offered.
Summary:
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is today a very manageable and treatable infection that no longer imposes the outcome of suffering and death it originally produced. With the medicines and treatment strategies currently available worldwide, persons infected with HIV (HIV+) are now able to enjoy long and productive lives while undergoing care and/ora treatment programme.
A gentle reminder that at this time, there exists no known cure for HIV. However, testing, knowing one’s HIV status and receiving care and treatment options if HIV+ permit many unlimited hopes for a full life!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, December 5, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “December Observances!”
Tomorrow, 11 November, marks the honouring of the cease-fire between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. It ended the Great War that eventually became known as World War I.
The Great War commenced in 1914 following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the Countess Sophia, by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary. The conflict evolved into a global one with the entrance into the belligerence by both the United Kingdom and France and their immense colonial empires in defence of the neutrality of the Kingdom of Belgium.
The USA entered the war in 1917 upon discovering a German initiative to encourage the invasion of the US by Mexico.
The armistice (cease-fire) was a prelude to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which recognized the surrender of Germany to the Allied Powers in 1919. At that time, the Great War was the most severe conflagration in human history.
The Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918, following the armistice, added to the number of deaths induced by the conflict.
The Great War reintroduced the red poppy as a symbol of tribute to all of those who sacrificed their lives. The emblem honours both the military and civilian victims of the conflict before progressing the same recognition to those killed during World War II and beyond.
The Armistice applicable to the Great War was effective upon the 11th month (November), the 11th day at the 11th hour (11:00 a.m.).
The international conflict has various determinations referencing it. In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth it is observed as Remembrance Day, a lasting tribute for all the fallen. It is a Sunday holiday in many countries. It is known as Armistice Day in the remaining countries who fought in the war. In the US it is called Veterans Day.
The Poppy:
The red poppy flower represents consolation, remembrance and death. The poppy is a common symbol that throughout the centuries has been utilised the reflect everything ranging from peace to death and even including sleep (slumber). In ancient times, poppies were placed on graves in honour of eternal rest (sleep).
During The Great War (1914 – 1918) much of the fighting took place in western Europe, especially in the Flanders region of the Kingdom of Belgium. The countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over repeatedly. The landscape was torn apart by the existence of military trenches.
The previously beautiful scenery was reduced to mud – bleak and barren vistas where little or nothing could grow.
There was a remarkable exception to all the desolation – the bright red poppy. These resilient flowers flourished among the overabundance of nothing except destruction. The availability of the red poppy resulted in them to profusely dominate the graves of those killed during The Great War.
In Flanders Fields
The Poppy: symbolic of remembrance!
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
the larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
we lived, felt dawn, saw sunsets glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
to you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Author: John McCrae
John McCrae was the son of Scots immigrants and born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada in 1872. In May, 1915, he was serving as a physician in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in Flanders, Belgium. On May 2, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, a Canadian field artillery officer and close friend of McCrae, was killed in the Second Battle of Ypres. Shortly afterwards, McCrae wrote the above poem in memory of his friend and honouring all the war dead.
The poem was first published on 8 December 1915, in London, UK, in the satirical magazine, Punch. It was immediately popular, widely circulated, and reprinted as a fitting tribute to all the deceased.
Have a safe and meaningful Remembrance Day/Armistice Day/Veterans Day!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, November 14, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Bare Celebrity Role Model #3!”
For years, the official name of the October federal (national) holiday was always “Columbus Day” – honouring Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator/sailor who led the naval expedition to discover a new route to India and the East Indies from Spain. In attempting doing this task, he “discovered” the New World.
The legends surrounding Columbus sailing the Atlantic searching for a more timely/ faster route to the Far East often led people to believe that the new lands were barren and uninhabited – how else could he discover them? Also, as his day was supposedly a “national” holiday in the USA, where in this country did he land? He was an Italian sailing for the King and Queen of Spain. How did he rate a USA holiday?
Even more confusing, why was there no national holiday honouring the peoples who already lived in this newly “discovered” land? In addition, the Norse Vikings had previously established settlements along the coasts of what is now Canada. These settlers predated Columbus by more than a century.
Too much credit was given to Christopher Columbus for tasks not in his original mission. Also, successive Italian immigrants to this New World celebrated Columbus as the “godfather” of the New World. If not for his voyages, there would have been no deluge of immigrants from Europe into these new lands! The entire history of the whole world would be altered.
Indigenous= native!
All the attention and praise on the accomplishments of Columbus and the immigrants who stole the land of all the native peoples residing in this “new world!” No one bothered to offer the disastrous impact of the enormous slave trade or the ravages of imported diseases on the inhabitants of the Caribbean islands and both the northern and southern continents.
Wherever the European immigrants settled, the indigenous populations within that area were subject to the bias of the newcomers and their discrimination against the local natives. After all, they were bringing “civilisation” to this savage land!
Their civilized import prevailed, and this country began to celebrate “Columbus Day” exclusively. It remained that way until the people started to realize that we’re not giving any recognition to the earlier inhabitants here who preserved the lands, the livestock and the environment that thrived until immigration began.
Beginning in the early years of the 21st century, calendars are now listing the traditional “Columbus Day” holiday as “Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day.” Currently, calendars are now printed listing only the Indigenous People’s Day designation. Since Christopher Columbus didn’t actually “discover” a New World, he no longer needs a special honour. As the Italian people didn’t sponsor his voyages to the west, they made no contribution in exploring the new shores.
On this day, it is especially important to remember to honour, salute and pay tribute to the Indigenous Peoples of this site, ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! A very special commendation to allbare practitioners!
Happy Indigenous People’s Day to everyone! We’re all indigenous to some region on this planet!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Thursday, October 16, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Spirit Day, 2025!”
Please understand that the above image is completely for representative purposes. My university where I’m employed does not permit us clothing-optional classroom or instructional privileges. We’re funded by the Congress, so that situation will be available only at the very end of time!
The Event:
It is now September 2025, and the Labour Day holiday has already happened. Unofficially, here in the USA, the Summer of 2025 is now over—although meteorologically we still have two more weeks of summer before the official transition into the autumn season! In other words, a not-so-subtle reminder to get out there, remove your clothing, and revel in nakedness while it is still possible to do so! Soon, the weather will change, and clothes will become a necessity!
The September Routine involves the return to the classroom (work) after the always all-too-brief summer respite from the educational podium! I enjoyed the holiday from having to commute and report to work daily; however, I also enjoy my job and the benefits and opportunities it affords.
Fortunately, no mathematics involved!
In addition to my classes that I facilitate, I also have two faculty committees that I am assigned. Luckily, I’ve served on these for several years now so the workload is both familiar and part of my academic routine. Hopefully, no unforeseen surprises await me this Autumn semester! However, the dean of my school of instruction is considering a new area of expansion and he has already approached me about not only supporting the assignment but also provisional leadership. He has promised it to be an “interesting” opportunity!
No, this new committee is not clothes free!
Also, another aspect of the September routine is the recollection of the summer freedom from clothing! The memory brings a smile to my face, every time!
At least, tomorrow is a new day!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, September 12, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Countdown!”
He’s an exemplary and talented artist and author of his blog/site here: Yorgos KC. I’m currently making his acquaintance and am remarkably impressed with his efforts that are aptly available to all,
Please click the above link for your grand tour of all the treasures available there. In exploring and researching my current Bare/Dare Series, 2025!, one of his recent postings, The Discomfort of Being Real, is an honest and in-depth observation of the challenges and myths of nakedness in our world and our right of self-determination. Click on the title to link directly to this awesome post! We’re both of the same mindset in being bare and our same gender love!
Yorgos is not only an accomplished artist as the above image conveys, he’s also doubly gifted as a writer of both fiction as well as issues that we face during the course of our lives. His site contains many of his works and books that relate to both fantasy and reality. A multitalented mastermind who’s sharing his literary and visual gifts to us all!
Yorgos KC wordpress gravatar
The above gravatar (imprint) represents Yorgos KC and appears with his works, both artistic and literary here on wordpress. This seal contains an art rendering of his face as well as a bunny (lower right corner) with a rainbow heart! A proud member of our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer+ (GLBTQ+) community and culture!
I highly recommend his blog to all bare practitioners and their friends! His art alone celebrates our body and clothes freedom through colourful imagery and also our same gender love and the beauty and tranquility it affords us in the frantic chaos of life. His compositions extol equality and fairness in contrast to the harsh realities that confront us. There’s something presented there that pertains to us all!
A fellow Greek cohort, Yorgos hails from Thessaloniki, Greece. I urge everyone to investigate his offering and endorse following his site as a way of communicating and sharing our nakedness and our same gender love (SGL) sexuality.
Please unite with Aaron, my spouse, and I as we embrace with a naked hug in welcoming Yorgos KC into both our bare practitioner community and culture! Our shared dedication to body and clothes freedom and our sexuality joins us all together!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, September 8, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “September Routine!”
The purpose of this post entry here on ReNudePride: Guys Without Boxers! is to provide the history leading into the celebration of National Nude Recreation Week.
This week-long festival of body and clothes freedom recreational (leisure) activities is jointly co-sponsored annually by the American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR) and The Naturist Society (TNS). As summer is the “season-in-the-sun,” it is only logical (natural) that two major naturist/nudist advisory organizations proclaim and promote an event in honour of clean, healthy bare (nude) living. The recent tendency over the last several years is to observe this occasion the week following the 4 July holiday.
Celebrate the occasion naked!
National Nude Recreation Week involves an emphasis on the numerous activities, leisure services, and pastimes, both active and passive, that people may engage in or undertake while clothes free. In essence, almost identical to what can be enjoyed when wearing garments. This isn’t to imply this special week is the only time we bare our bodies for fun and games. We do that quite frequently!
The race to the beach!
The history of National Nude Recreation Week is recent with the earliest documented date of 7 August, 1976, as being Nude Beach Day. It was first observed at Truro Beach in southern California and at the Head of the Meadow Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The Nude Beach Day was continued at the same locations and by the end of the 1970s decade, it soon expanded into the National Nude Weekend in order to expand the time of the clothes free event. As many traditional naturist/nudist camps, resorts and other facilities weren’t located with access to a clothing optional beach it soon became apparent that another name change and another expansion of the theme was necessary.
A memorable Nude Recreation Week!
Many existing clothes free businesses, facilities and properties were first-hand witnesses to the rapidly growing numbers of people now taking advantage of the weekend event. They sought to grow their own markets by affiliating with the already established destinations. This new interest helped the popularity of the event to grow even more and added additional incentives for development and growth.
In the early 1980s, the weekend then evolved into the current event known as National Nude Recreation Week. This extended time period encouraged even more people to explore social nudity and to try new opportunities.
Expand horizons!
Author’s Advisory:
Rest assured that even without an “officially” declared National Nude Recreation Week, the ever-resourceful bare practitioner community and culture would need no excuse to strip out of clothes and stroll about in proud nakedness. After all, our nudity is firmly implanted in our DNA! Besides, none of us would ever want to change!
Strolling together!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, July 11, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Nude Recreation Week #2!”
It is obvious that our bare practitioner community and culture isn’t the only organization observing June as a month of Pride! This rainbow coloured park bench is indicative that this same distinction is shared by this local recreation and parks agency also! This rainbow park bench serves as a reminder to us all that celebrating Pride is not limited solely to the month of June nor just to the GLBTQ+ population!
Even in a shallow water level, relaxing while enjoying nakedness is still considered the all-time favourite aquatic activity known as skinny-dipping (swimming naked)!
A bottoms-up! hairy pair of buttocks is all that’s necessary to mark the closure of Pride Month, 2025!
A serious yet solemn stare as he provides a full viewing of his very personal contribution in commemoration of this Bottoms-Up! June, 2025!
Aquatics Bottoms-Up! celebrating Pride Month, 2025! in a very fun inspired posing while taking a dive into the neighbourhood pool skinny-dipping (swimming naked)! Seasonally appropriate, comfortably cooling and very inviting!
The bromantic (brother + romantic) bare practitioner strolling duo: same-gender loving (SGL) and nakedness enthusiasts bottoms-up! at a clothing-optional resort.
Their bare practitioner relationship is apparent and obvious to all as is their bottoms-up! appreciation and comfort! Free from any evidence of embarrassment, guilt or shame! Proud to be what and who they are all year long!
A graphic adaptation of an original artwork by the late gay artist, Keith Haring, who died from complications with AIDS.
Naked hugs!
Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Canada Day, 2025!”
The exterior view of The Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street, New York City, New York, USA, where history happened the evening of 27/28 June, 1969!
Background:
Friday, 27 June, 1969, was a very hot and humid day in New York City. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the approaching weekend and the freedom from having to struggle for relief from the oppressive weather.
At that time, the same gender loving people were known, at least in “polite” society, as “homosexuals” (a name now considered derogatory). The popular nickname was “homos.” This segment of the New York City population was not only oppressed by the weather but also by the bias, discrimination, hatred, marginalization and violence of the general population against all persons seen as homos.
There were laws prohibiting homosexuality socially on record in 49 of the fifty states of the USA. Illinois had repealed its anti-homosexuality legal restrictions in 1961. All segments of society: general, government, legal and religious were united against the “deviant” (homosexual) peoples.
It was unlawful for homosexuals to gather together in public. They were fired from their jobs for being thought of as being homosexual without any legal recourse. They were ridiculed and attacked publicly often without any consequence for those assaulting them. Simply being a homosexual was considered a criminal act.
Everyone was required, by law, to wear clothing appropriate to their birth gender. The only legal exception was for Halloween.
The Stonewall Inn:
The Stonewall Inn (it was never a hotel) opened as a bar catering to the homosexual community in 1967. Prior to that, it had been a stable (for horses), a French bakery, a tearoom and lastly a restaurant that had burned out of business. Upon renovation, it opened as a tavern (bar) on 18 March, 1967, under Mafia-affiliated management and owned by the Genovese crime family.
The establishment consisted of two main rooms, each with its own dance floor. The front room was popular with older clientele and the back room attracted the younger ones.
“The door of the Stonewall had wrought-iron bars across this little “peephole,” a little wooden thing that slid open. The man inside would look at you and, it you looked like you belonged there, he would let you in.” ~ Chris Babick ~ describing the entrance to the Stonewall Inn
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Friday evening, 27 June 1969:
Most of the patrons gathered inside the Stonewall Inn were looking forward to a night of dancing with their friends, relaxing with watered-down cocktails and enjoying a summer’s Friday night in New York City in a place relatively comfortable and safe for homosexual acquaintances. They had no idea that they were about to witness an historical event that would change their lives – and the homosexual world – forever.
Both the dance floors at Stonewall Inn were full of dancing homosexual couples. It was now just after midnight and 28 June, 1969, was now in its infancy. Suddenly, the music stopped. The lights that were dimmed to enhance the atmosphere came back on in a bright glare that caught everyone by surprise. Almost simultaneously, the realization dawned on the festive crowds: New York City police were raiding the bar!
The New York City Police Department was long familiar with conducting raids on homosexual bars (both female and male). Their process for the procedure was fairly routine and standard. They recognized homosexuals as a relatively compliant and passive crowd. For this reason, only one police transport vehicle (“paddy-wagon”) and one marked police squad car were involved in the raid.
Less than a dozen officers were assigned the task of managing and segregating the clientele, confiscating all the alcohol and arresting the Stonewall Inn employees.
Patrons outside Stonewall Inn, early evening, Friday, 27 June, 1969!
Early Saturday morning, 28 June, 1969:
“The police weren’t letting us dance! If there’s one place in the world where you can dance and feel yourself fully as a person and that’s threatened with being taken away, those words are fighting words!” ~ Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt ~ Stonewall Inn patron and participant
The arrival of the police raiding force caused pandemonium to erupt inside the Stonewall Inn. Customers searched in vain for an escape route or for a place to hide. The police immediately began confiscating both liquor and beer as evidence against the establishment and segregating the bar crowd: bar employees, cross-dressers (transgender persons) and the “regular” homosexuals.
The bar employees and cross-dressers were to be arrested for their individual violating the law. The “regular” homosexuals, once they showed officers their proper identification, were to be given citations and then permitted to leave.
The year, 1969, was at the end of a decade that had witnessed massive social unrest. The African-American protests for civil rights, the birth of the feminist and women’s rights movements, the anti-Vietnam war and peace demonstrations and the equal pay marches for primarily Latino/Latina immigrant farm workers were underway during this time. The homosexuals who had participated in some of these public unrests were energized and many wondered when their time for equality would happen. Little did they, and the police raiding the Stonewall Inn, realize that moment had arrived!
As the police began checking the identities of those inside the Stonewall Inn, those with proper credentials were released and herded outside the bar. Only this time, instead of simply leaving the premises, they congregated on the sidewalks and across the street at the Christopher Street Park. Once law enforcement attempted to disperse them, they grew confrontational and belligerent.
Unaccustomed to homosexual defiance, the police continued to press the order to vacate the area. The growing crowd, emboldened by their frustration with being treated as “deviants” and second-class citizens, began to chant and to empty nearby trash cans and hurl the garbage at the officers.
By this time, passers-by, curious as to what was happening, joined the upset homosexuals to express their dissatisfaction with the raid. The crowd outside the Stonewall Inn began to grow in both number, anger and curiosity. When word of what had transpired inside the tavern began to spread, even more homosexuals started to descend into the inn’s neighborhood and amass in the bar’s vicinity.
Angry crowd outside Stonewall Inn, early Saturday morning, 28 June 1969!
SIR: Stonewall Inn Riot commences:
By now, the police, trapped inside the facility by the large crowd outside, understood that the situation had gotten beyond their control. They tried to call for reinforcements but were unable to reach any source for assistance. They had secured the bar but were confined inside and the crowd outside was swelling in both size and fury. A few hundred bar patrons had now increased into an angry mob of several thousand and more were joining by the minute.
“You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters, and it was a good sound. It was a real good sound that, you know, you had a lot of people out there pulling for you.” ~ Raymond Castro ~ Stonewall Inn customer detained inside the bar under siege
No one in the New York City Police Department had anticipated the homosexuals, always believed to be “meek and mild,” would fight back. The years of abuse, neglect, oppression, and ridicule had taken their toll, and the frustration had now become revolution; the time for retribution was at hand. Unfortunately for law enforcement, the pent-up anger toward the police was now being released and returned in kind. They were now prisoners inside the Stonewall Inn.
Two hours after the raid was initiated, the raiders and their detainees were trapped and no immediate relief was available. The two-way communication devices between the raiding party and their office weren’t working and the only public telephone inside the tavern wasn’t able to connect with any local police precincts. The “passive” homosexuals had finally achieved a “first” in their spontaneous riot: the police were contained, surrounded and they were all very nervous. By now, the mob outside the Greenwich Village bar numbered several thousand with a full-fledged riot underway.
SIR: Stonewall Inn Riot!Multiple police attack a protester early Saturday morning, 28 June, 1969!
In an effort to relieve the inflammatory predicament, the isolated police decided to send the detainees and half the officers trapped inside the tavern, using the two police vehicles on site, to the closest local precinct. There, the detainees would be formally charged with arrest, and the officers could make arrangements for a police riot force to assemble and rescue the remaining law enforcement personnel. This relief effort finally returned to the bar and eventually dispersed the angry mob of homosexuals and curious onlookers several hours later.
Saturday evening, 28 June, 1969:
Despite damage to the Stonewall Inn, the bar opened for business (dancing and socializing) the following night, Saturday, 28 June. by then, word of the disturbance the previous evening had spread throughout the city’s largely closeted (anonymous) homosexual community (primarily by word of mouth). The city officials and law enforcement superior officers were hesitant to release information that would encourage more aggressive reaction.
A larger than usual crowd gathered both inside and outside the Greenwich Village establishment. Most didn’t expect a repeat raid of the night before and a significant number of those in attendance mainly wanted to inspect the damage. The police, however, had different ideas. They were strictly outside the facility in full force with a large number in riot gear. They had learned their lesson and were determined to remain in complete control should the patrons become unruly again.
The homosexuals and the neighbourhood residents had been empowered by the riot the night before and of the mindset not to bullied into submission again. As the large police presence attempted to disperse those gathered outside the Stonewall Inn, they were confronted by verbal insults and an array of street-savvy tactics that set law enforcement chase off onlookers, only to have them run around the city block and return again.
Silent obedience to uniformed policemen was no longer a fact of life for New York City’s homosexuals. They were tired of suffering abuse, disrespect, ridicule and treatment as second-class citizens.
A crowd lining the sidewalk on the Stonewall Inn city block watched by police, Saturday evening, 28 June, 1969!
The second night of the Stonewall Inn congregation wasn’t as aggressively disruptive as the previous night. No further damage was done to the tavern facility. However, an awakening consciousness was raised within the municipal homosexual community that would change the way society viewed them and – most importantly – the way they perceived themselves.
For the first time, the often assumed obedient and passive homosexuals joined together and defended their rights and demonstrated that they, as a community, had finally and long last, “had enough!”
“There was no gay pride before Stonewall. Only gay fear and gay isolation and gay distrust and gay self-hatred.” ~ Edmond White ~ American gay novelist and Stonewall witness
Our GLBTQ+ Progress Pride flag!
Footnote: This posting entry was from a research paper that I composed for class distribution that I taught at my university, 2015 – 2018.
Sources:
Bausman, Ann “Stonewall: Breaking Out for Gay Rights”
Doberman, Martin F. “Stonewall: A History”
Naked hugs!
Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, June 30, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! June, 2025!
As we are, this week, approaching the actual dates of the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969, my spouse, Aaron, and I agreed that a look at the historic site of SIR (Stonewall Inn riots) that ignited our movement for equality and justice was appropriate and fitting. A sense of irony that the dates of 2025 coincide in reality with the corresponding days and dates of SIR in 1969!
The purpose of this posting entry today is to offer a visual image of the facilities that played an important role in the SIR event, 1969. It may serve as a reference for those traveling to New York City in the future. A scene from our shared past as it appears today: a glimpse of our history. One that was ignored and overlooked for decades!
The Stonewall Inn, June, 2016!
The image above is of The Stonewall Inn as it was decorated for Pride Month, 2016. The facility was renovated, both externally and internally, in 2007. The Stonewall Inn and surrounding area was designated as a national monument by then-President Barack Hussein Obama on 24 June, 2016. It was the first such designation associated with the GLBTQ+ community and culture.
Footnote #1:The current gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer+ (GLBTQ+) flag was not created nor adopted until June, 2018. The above flag was displayed in honour of then-President Obama’s signing of the Stonewall Inn National Monument status two years earlier.
The Stonewall National Monument is the very first site in the USA exclusively dedicated to the commemoration of anything specifically related to the GLBTQ+ community and culture. The fact that the site underscores the beginning of the struggle for the equality, freedom and justice of that particular community and culture keeps it within the supposed national tradition of all persons being equal under the guise of this country, this government and the law.
Footnote #2: On 13 February, 2025, the National Park Service eliminated all references to transgender persons from the Stonewall National Monument facilities and website. This action was taken so public park facilities would comply with the felon-in-chief executive order denying the history of the Stonewall Inn riots. What was originally promoted as GLBTQ+ is now simply GLB (gay, lesbian, bisexual).
Inresponse, the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative and The Stonewall Inn replied with an appropriate, mature and respectful statement immediately following the issuance of Executive Order #14168:
“This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals – especially transgender women of color – who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for GLBTQ+ rights.”
The Stonewall National Monument!
The Monument Property:
The monument includes and surrounds Christopher Park (formerly known as the Christopher Street Park) that was originally owned by the New Netherlands Director-General, Wouter van Twiller, as a tobacco farm from 1633 until his death in 1638. When he died, the property was divided into smaller farms.
European immigration to New York City (following the Netherlands ceding the New Netherlands colony to the British) magnified and streets and neighborhoods developed. In 1835, the Great Fire of New York City burned the area known as Greenwich Village. The new Christopher Street Park opened in 1837 on the land of the old tobacco farm. The Stonewall Inn, which consisted of two adjacent stables, was built across the street from the park in 1843.
Entrance to Christopher Park, Stonewall National Monument!
The Stonewall National Monument is located in the West Village neighbourhood of Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan, New York City. The site includes the actual Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street and Christopher Park (formerly known as the Christopher Street Park).
Then U. S. President, Mr. Barack Obama
“But the arc of history is clear – it’s an arc of progress. And a lot of that progress can be traced back to Stonewall. So, this week, I’m designating the Stonewall National Monument as the newest addition to America’s national park system. Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story of GLBT rights.” ~ President Barack Obama ~ Weekly Address, The White House 25 June 2016
Stonewall National Monument, Christopher Park statues!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Thursday, June 26, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “HIV Testing Day!”
ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! 